Oh, the Games We Play
by cabinet of curiosities
Summary: Halloween happens but once a year but in the Sanctuary it's always a memorable day... especially with cheeky children and mischieveous adults on the loose. This story is part of the WWDD Masquerade Challenge.
1. Halloween in Old City, 2009 part 1

Oh, the Games We Play

_Halloween in Old City, 2009_:

When five year old Ashley had insisted that the group dress up as members of Mystery Inc., Kate had been less than pleased at being forced to dress up as Velma, whining that the outfit would do nothing for her figure, though Will and Henry had been more than willing to be Fred and Shaggy for fear that the child would insist upon one of them being Velma. "I don't have the knees for a mini-skirt," Henry had cracked lamely as he flashed a pleading look at Magnus.

John had been the least amused with his assigned costume. "Why do I have to be the dog?" he had grumbled as he tried to reason with his stubborn first born who had decided that she herself would be Daphne. "Why can't Will be the dog? Or Henry? He's born to play the part."

"You said you were a big dog," Ashley explained. "I heard you tell uncle Nikola that. Scooby Doo is a big dog. What's your problem, daddy? You're being silly," the child fussed back as she placed her hands on her hips and glared at him exactly the way her mother did when she was displeased with someone.

"That's not what I meant when I said I was a big dog in this small world," John argued back. "I meant… well, something else all together."

"Mommy, tell daddy he has to be Scooby!" Ashley commanded with a little stomp of her foot. "I can't be Daphne if there's no Scooby!"

Helen, who was suffering from a cold, along with her three month old baby, eyed the pouty pair with tired eyes from her reclining position on the bed. Father and daughter were wearing the same unhappy look with scrunched up mouths and staring at her expectantly waiting for her to tell the other no. Sighing, Helen gave a loud sniff as she reached for another tissue and said in a nasally tone, "It's just for a few hours. Be the dog, John. I would do it but I can barely crawl out of this bed."

At his, "But, Helen…," she scowled at him and narrowed her bleary eyes.

"Fine!" he grumbled as he shoulders drooped in defeat. "But I'm not going to be a happy about it."

"Ha! Ha! I win!" Ashley squealed in triumph and then quickly slapped her hands over her mouth as her sibling let out a big squall of protest at the loud noise.

Groaning, Helen flopped back hard onto the pillow. "I just got her to sleep! Now look what you've done!"

"Out!" John ordered, ushering his eldest out of the room and closing the door behind her. Seeing Helen start to pull the covers back to rise, he ordered her to stay where she was and went to retrieve their youngest, who was pitifully crying out in a congested tone. Looking down into the crib, he forgot his argument with Ashley as he stared down at his sick infant. Her little face was flushed with dark pink streaks on her cheeks and her little fists were lightly flailing about. Carefully scooping her up into his arms, he softly murmured to her in an attempt to calm her as he carried her over to her exhausted mother. "Why don't you get some rest?" he said, ignoring her oustretched hands as he tried to rock the baby back to sleep. "I'll take care of her."

Keeping her hands outstretched, the increasingly grouchy new mother countered with, "I'll take care of her. We both need some rest and quiet. You can go play parent to your stubborn little mini-me. You can start by taking her and Kate to the Halloween shop to pick up the costumes."

John frowned, not liking that suggestion at all and returned with, "How about Kate and Henry take Ashley to the costume shop and I stay here and rock you and baby to sleep?" He gave her a flirty little smile to encourage her.

Unmoved, Helen retorted, "How about you hand over the baby and I won't have to shoot you? And I've already had my turn at accompany Ashley to costume shops and trick or treating. You can take your turn this go round." When he continued to refuse to relinquish the infant, she added, "Or have you changed your mind about wanting to take on the role of being a full-time parent to our daughters?"

Sighing, he moved forward and laid the baby into her mother's arms. Helen pulled the sleepy baby close to her chest, lightly rocked her and tilted her face down to place a kiss on the soft little forehead. Without looking up, she mumbled, "You're still here."

"The scene before me is too beautiful to turn away from," he praised and bent to sit down on the bed.

"Get out," she ordered softly as she kept her eyes fixed on the now sleeping face of her baby. "And don't come back without a Scooby outfit."

"As if they would have one my size," he snorted confidently as he slowly lumbered to the door.

Turned out the store did have one that fit his 6 foot 4 inch frame. The glowering, long face on his imposing form put a damper on the household as they gathered for dinner that night. However, there was many a chuckle at Kate's recounting of the shopping trip and Druitt's crestfallen face at being informed by the half-stoned, perky clerk that "Oh dude, no worries man. We have that outfit in very size. Scooby Doo is like the man… or dog," the clerk laughed. "Everyone wants to be him. I know I'd like to have a Scooby snack right now."

"Not _everyone_," Druitt had hissed through clenched teeth as his thrilled daughter looked up at him and grinned.

"It'll be fun, daddy," Ashley insisted as she clutched her bagged costume to her chest. "Maybe we can even catch a bad guy in costume like Mystery Incorporated does on the show. Wouldn't that be cool?"

"No," her father had groaned. "Catching your mother's odd assortment of vermin is plenty enough."

"I can volunteer a certain vampire we all know and would love to throttle," Kate offered, earning her the first genuine smile from Druitt since they had entered the store. "I bet we could even trick him into wearing a cape. He's already got the fangs and long nails."

Tilting his head thoughtfully, John mused, "Tempting," as he reluctantly accepted the bagged costume from the clerk. "But the real trick would be getting him to say 'blah, blah, blah' in a bad Transylvanian accent."

The others howled at that bit of the story. "Oh, dude," Henry chortled, "we so have to get him to do it… and on tape so that I can torment him with it forever. He wanted to test his latest toy today and ended up melted my iPhone by, and I quote, accident" the annoyed young HAP shared. "The least I could do is return the favor."

John laughed and shook his head at the young man. "There is no way any of you are going to get Tesla to say 'blah, blah, blah' in a bad Transylvanian accent any more than you're going to be able to get him into a cape. Not going to happen."

"Want to bet on it?" Kate prodded with a raised eyebrow. "It could liven things up for tomorrow."

Turning, the group gave the attractive young woman a sharp look. "What are you proposing?" Will asked with a widening grin on his face. This might be a good distraction from the embarrassment of having to dress up as Fred… which in the scheme of things was infinitely better than having to dress up as either Velma or Scooby.

"Everyone puts $50 into the pool. The first one to get the Doctor Frankenstein to say the key phrase on tape gets the money and the honor of being the one to prank Tesla."

"Oh, I am so in," Henry exclaimed and pulled money out of his jean pocket to toss onto the dinner table.

"Me too," Will laughed and followed suit. "I wouldn't miss this for the world."

"Seconded," John agreed, tossing his money onto the table as well.

"Then we're all agreed," Kate said as she counted out the pile, including her share. Handing the money over to the Big Guy, she reminded the group that they would have to be careful with their attempts. Tesla was no fool.

"Oh, he's a fool alright," John scoffed. "But you're right, he isn't stupid."

"Magnus isn't going to like this," the Sasquatch reminded them with a grunt as he tucked the money away. "You know how fond she is of him."

The group all nodded at the same time and exclaimed, "No one tells Magnus."

The next day proved to be quite irritating for one very annoyed vampire as one person after another made vampire cracks because it was Halloween. "Halloween has nothing to do with vampires," Nikola sniffed haughtily. "It's a pagan holiday celebrated by a bunch of fools who thought dressing up as scary things would ward off evil. How it managed to evolve into a calorie loaded, candy groveling activity I do not know nor do I care! Now, be gone, Wolf boy. Don't you have a moon to bay at tonight?" he taunted as he rose from his chair to return to his lab. It was bad enough he had to leave his work to share lunch with Helen's motley crew but he drew the line at vampire baiting over a meal. And poor vampire baiting at that.

"Don't you have some necks you have to bite?" Henry tossed back. "You know, all that 'I vant to suck your blood?' shtick that all Hollywood vampires do?" All of Henry's attempts to trick Telsa into saying the magic phrase had failed so far but he wasn't detoured. If anyone was going to win this bet it was him. He could get under his fellow techie's skin in a way that no one else in the household could.

"Hollywood?" Nikola snorted derisively. "Please. According to those idiots the ideal for a vampire is a brooding adolescent who wears red lipstick and stalks an immature, self-centered teenager brat. Oh, and he _sparkles_ like a pearl. A pearl!" the vampire snorted again indignantly. "Helen was more masculine and powerful in her Victorian corsets and long skirt than sissy-boy Cullen any day. He is a blight upon the name of all dignified vampires everywhere." He paused. "Even if that's just technically me."

"So," Kate drawled, amused by Tesla's flushed cheeks, "you've read Twilight then, have you?"

"Only out of idle curiosity," Nikola admitted with a deepening blush, "but only half of the first book. I couldn't take his self indulgent moping or her incessant whining enough to finish that atrocity of a book."

"Yeah," Will said nonchalantly as he reached for another piece of fried chicken. "I couldn't finish the book either. When I got to the part where he takes her to the Halloween dance and jokingly whispers 'blah, blah, blah, you look so hot under the moonlight' and she giggles like a little girl I tossed the book across the room."

"He never says blah… that!" Tesla caught himself before he repeated Will's words and smirked as the psychologist's tensed shoulders deflated. As if Doctor Goody-Two-Shoes was going to trick him into say that tired old phrase.

"So," Kate drawled again as she picked up her glass of iced tea. "You've read more than half the book."

The piercing look the annoyed vampire aimed her way before spinning on his heels and departing caused her to giggle and clink glasses with Will while the other adults snickered.

"I almost had him," Will boasted before taking a triumphant bite of his chicken leg.

"Almost is your face pressed against the window of a lingerie store," Kate retorted back. "All peek but no touchy."

Screwing up her face, Ashley asked, "What exactly does that mean?"

"Nothing!" her father quickly growled and glared at the two adult offenders. "Here, have some more macaroni and cheese," he said and put a large helping onto her plate.

"Mmmm," the child murmured as she stabbed her fork into it. "I love mac and cheese."

"So does your mother," the Big Guy said. "As soon as she wakes up from her nap I'll take her some along with a pot of hot tea."

"I still almost had him," Will began again, and then stopped when John stared at him in warning. "Well, that's more than you three have managed."

"I could have had him if someone didn't interrupt," Kate accused and pointed a fork at Henry, who came back with, "Wishful thinking. No way was he going to fall for that."

"It appears you are all failing," John appraised with a soft laugh.

"We don't see you trying any better," Henry shot back.

"Oh, I'm not trying at all," John smirked and grinned at the three.

"What?" Kate exclaimed in surprise. "Why not?"

"You don't think James, Nigel and I didn't take every opportunity we could find to razz Tesla with bad vampire imitations and jokes when we were younger?" John laughed. "We could never get him to say that phrase, ever. Looking back, it's a miracle he didn't kill us all before graduation. Well, James and Nigel anyway. I was always too quick for him."

"Then why did you want to participate?" Will asked with a frown.

"I was just curious to see how far you would go. At least the three of us got creative. You lot are just pathetic," he laughed again.

"Give us an example so we _pathetic_ three can learn, oh master," Kate stated sarcastically and batted her dark eyes at him.

Tilting his head, John thought about it for a moment. "Well, there was the one time we pinned paper bats to the ceiling of his boarding room, which was on the top floor of an old stone house, and hung a big sign in Latin that read 'Bats in the Tesla belfry. Trespassers beware. We're all a little batty here.' James and I laughed our heads off from the second floor math room watching Nikola chasing Nigel up and down the lawn at early dusk."

"Nigel could turn invisible," Will reminded him. "How would Tesla be able to track him?"

John laughed again. "He managed to nail Griffin with talcum powder as he was running down the stairs before Nigel could get all of his clothes off." He chuckled again. "I don't know what was funnier. A powder white Nigel running past in his shorts from Tesla, who was swearing in his thick accent that he was going to suck Griffin dry, or the startled look on Helen's face when the pair raced by her."

The Big Guy snorted. "I'd go with Magnus."

The group laughed. "Can we go trick or treating now?" Ashley asked hopefully. "I want to get candy!"

"We have to wait until it gets starts to get darker," Kate replied. "But," she said as she pushed back from the table, "that will give us plenty of time to get ready. If I'm going to be a fashion wreck in that costume I'm going to look good doing it."

"How do you look good and a wreck at the same time?" Ashley inquired as she climbed out of her chair and followed her.

"It's a gift, honey. Stick with me and you'll learn a thing or two," Kate joked and wrapped an arm around the girl as they exited together.

"Okay, that's a frightening proposition," Henry said of the departing duo.

"Seconded," John and Will repeated in unison.

Several hours later, the five set off to attend a Halloween fest event being held at the Old City Civic Center where candy booths, planned children's activities and a large, enclosed haunted house provided a safe location for families to interact and play.

The group's attire caught many people's attention, ranging from "awwws!" for little Ashley's Daphne to one smart aleck teenager's "You're a little short for Fred, aren't you mister?"

Course, no one got more curious looks than John, who was probably the tallest Scooby Doo anyone in this building had ever laid eyes on before. At the spinning wheel booth, the operator, who was dressed in a skimpy French maid's outfit, eyed John hungrily and seductively proclaimed, "My, you sure are a big drink of water, big fella."

John raised an amused brow at her flirtations before returning his focus on his daughter, who was having the time of her life tonight. His unhappiness at wearing the dreadful outfit had faded as he experienced the uninhibited joy that his eldest child was exhibiting and sharing with him.

Giving the wooden wheel a big spin, Ashley crinkled up her button nose and stared at the woman suspiciously and then squealed as the wheel landed on the "ghoul pop" wedge. Without sparing the child a glance, the woman, who had immediately noted that the child's accompanying adult wore no wedding band, handed the girl a large marshmallow on stick that was decorated to look like a ghost as she purred to John, "Perhaps you could come by some time? We could play… fetch."

Surprised, John looked at the woman and gave a soft chuckled. "Tempting. But I must pass. Thank you." Apparently a large, ridiculous dog outfit wasn't a turn off for everyone.

"Are you sure?" the woman began again, ignoring the next child that had wandered up to the wheel. "I have a big ball… or two."

John's response was cut short by Ashley's "My daddy only plays fetch with my mommy. And she has a big gun and isn't afraid to use it," the child exclaimed as she gave the flirting attendant the stink eye. Behind him, John heard Will and Henry, who had just rejoined them with bags of cotton candy, burst out laughing. Grabbing her father's hand, Ashley gave the startled woman another dark glare and said, "And you keep your balls away from my daddy!" before dragging him away guffawing.

Kate, arriving with a drink for herself and Ashley, stared down at the howling figures of Will and Henry lying on the floor laughing their heads off. "What? What did I miss?" she asked in confusion.

"Balls!" Henry choked out as his eyes watered up.

"Fetch!" Will choked back out, causing them to start laughing harder.

"What?" Kate asked again as the embarrassed attendant quickly turned away and handed a child their prize and pretended not to hear the laughing onlookers.

It was close to ten p.m. when Helen heard the footsteps coming down the hallway. The light, quick footed ones in front announced her oldest child's entrance before her little body flew through the doorway. "I'm home!" Ashley called out in greeting as she rushed over to her mother, who was resting on the couch in her study dressed in her pajamas and matching navy robe. Helen's legs rested on a tufted ottoman and lying on a pillow across her mother's lap was the newest member of the Sanctuary family. Her grey-blue eyes blearily stared around the room as best they could to observe all the sights and sounds around her.

"Did you have fun, darling?" Helen asked as Ashley leaned against her side and stared down at the baby with a smile.

"Uh huh," Ashley answered and held up her large bag. "I got lots and lots of candy."

"Lovely," Helen replied, thinking she would have to get her old friend to quietly hide handfuls of the candy a little bit at a time to prevent the child from gorging on it all week, and gave the rest of the stragglers a smile as they each flopped down into chairs tiredly.

Sitting down on corner of the oversized ottoman, John leaned down to kiss the chubby cheek of his youngest child and then leaned back to smile at her mother. "Don't say it," he warned, recognizing the wicked little gleam in her eyes as she looked over his large form in the ridiculous dog outfit.

"Love the ears," she giggled at the sight of the hood that was still pulled up over his head. One ear stood upright while the other had flopped over crookedly.

"I thought you were going to start with the tag and collar again," he admitted as he scooped up the baby and scooted further into the ottoman and pushed Helen's legs over. He had not been amused at her earlier teasing about how the collar and tag would make it easier for her to keep him on a shorter lease.

"You mean the 'S' for 'Stupid'?" Nikola remarked at he gave his old classmate a smug look.

"The S stands for Scooby," Ashley seriously corrected her godfather in regards to the tag with an 'S' that was part of her father's dog outfit.

"Oh, is that what it stands for," Nikola said. "Are you sure it's not for silly? Or sad sack?"

"No," Ashley giggled. "Scooby is the dog's name. It starts with an S."

"I like my version better," Nikola muttered softly, causing Helen to give him her patent "behave" look.

"I never want to see cotton candy again," Henry groaned as he flopped back against his chair with closed eyes. "I think my tongue's turned into sugar."

Seated opposite him and next to Helen, Nikola gave him a smirk. "I didn't know canines liked spun sugar. I would think that would rot your precious teeth," he said and flashed his perfectly white chops at the boy. "A werewolf with missing teeth would be pointless, wouldn't it? You'd just be a big dog with no bite. Sort of like Silly here."

"I have plenty of bite left in me," John rumbled lowly and gave the smug vampire a menacing look.

"Yeah, like that's going to scare me when you're dressed like an oversized, spotted hound and holding a drooling baby," Nikola snorted and poured himself another glass of wine from the nearby bottle.

"Don't you have belfry to fly around in, Vlad?" Henry groaned and popped open one eye to glare at Tesla. "Maybe some bugs to eat? Bats like bugs, right?"

Nikola responded with "Ashley, perhaps Henry would like some candy. Why don't you offer him that big lollipop?"

"No way," the girl replied and hugged the bag of treats to herself. "That's mine."

Henry let out a large groan and rubbed his stomach. "Ohhhh! No more sugar or else I'm going to need to have my stomach pumped!"

"I hear you," a sprawled out Will groaned from a nearby chair. "Remind me to never agree to a cream pie eating contest again. If I never see meringue again it won't be too soon."

Amused, Helen looked over at Kate and noted the pleased look on the young woman's face. "And why are you so happy, if I may be so bold to ask?" Helen said.

"Kate has a hot date with Fred Flintstone," Ashley tattled and gave a giggle.

"Is that so?" Helen laughed.

"Yeah, who knew dressing up as a cartoon nerd would turn a man on," Kate cracked with a laugh. "Apparently the combination of short skirt and knee socks drives men crazy."

"I could have told you that," Will snorted. "Why do you think there's so many schoolgirl Halloween outfits available? I mean, hello? Naughty Harry Potter? There had to have been a dozen of them strutting around the civic center tonight."

Ashley looked up at her mother. "Some lady thought daddy was hot too. I told her you'd shoot her if she tried to play fetch with him."

Startled, Helen's head whipped up to stare at John. "It was nothing," John explained with a shake of his head. "Really, nothing. A simple misunderstanding."

"She offered him her balls and I told her she better keep them away from my daddy," Ashley continued with a big frown, eliciting laughter from the adults in the room.

"Balls," Will repeated and started laughing again.

"Fetch," Kate purred and doubled over in laughter as Henry slid out of his chair laughing and groaning onto the floor.

"Stop it," Henry bellowed and laughed at the same time. Clutching at his stomach he whined, "I can't laugh anymore. I'm sugared out. You're going to make me pee my pants."

"Well that's an attractive image," Nikola said with a roll of his eyes and gave Helen a put upon look at having to tolerate the antics of her childish crew. She responded by stealing the glass from his hand and taking a quick sip of the sweet, dark liquid she had not savored for several months. Closing her eyes, she gave a soft moan of pleasure and ignored the reprimanding look she knew John was aiming her way. Reopening her eyes, she took another sip before handing Nikola his glass back with a smile and waited for his reaction. He stared at her, then down at his glass, then back at her, and then, after a long pause, turned the glass in his hand to a clean spot on the glass rim and returned to sipping his wine. Helen bit the corner of her mouth to keep from outright giggling at him. Had anyone else done that to him he would have been tossed the glass aside and gotten a new one. After he had killed the person who had dared to drink out of his glass.

"Perhaps we could turn this conversation in another more age appropriate direction," John commanded in annoyance, most of which was aimed at the mother of his children, and stood up to change his daughter's diaper. That strong smell certainly wasn't come from him. The corner side table of Helen's office had been cleared away to serve as a temporary changing table and he strolled over there with the complaining infant who clearly did not like having a wet bottom.

"I know what else we can talk about," Ashley announced and turned to her mother.

"What?" her mother asked hesitantly, afraid of what else her daughter was about to reveal regarding tonight's little jaunt.

"Next Halloween," Ashley exclaimed and clapped her hands together excitedly. Loud groans of protest were issued by the others.

"I'm not sure I'm going to survive this one," Henry moaned from his spot on the floor. "Let's not discuss the horrors you have in store for us next year."

"Oh, but next year is going to be great," Ashley reassured. "I have the perfect costume and everything. Want to see?"

"You already have the costume?" her mother asked in surprise.

"Just wait," Ashley commanded and rushed out the room, passing the Sasquatch as he entered with a tray of tea, cocoa and sandwiches.


	2. Halloween in Old City, 2009 part 2

Oh, the Games We Play

"Just wait," Ashley commanded and rushed out the room, passing the Sasquatch as he entered with a tray of tea, cocoa and sandwiches.

"Where is she off to?" he gruffly inquired as he sat the tray down on the coffee table between Kate and Will's chairs and began to distribute cups and saucers.

"We're afraid to ask," Helen said as she accepted the cup and held it steady for her old friend to pour the piping hot liquid into her cup.

Spying Henry laying on the floor, the Big Guy huffed, "Henry, what are you doing on the floor?"

"Sugar comatose and I need to pee," the tired man answered without opening his eyes. "Carry me?"

The Big Guy grunted. "You're too big to carry."

"Just open the French doors and let him run out into the yard," Nikola suggested. "The yard's fenced. No chance of him getting run over in the streets." Receiving a soft smack in the arm from Helen, who was seated between him and John, Tesla helpfully added, "What? I was just pointing out that with the city's leash laws a fenced yard for all canines is a requirement."

"Bite me," Henry snorted from his sprawled position, "I'm so full of sugar I'll send you into diabetic shock."

Chocking on his tea, Will accidently spit some of it onto a giggling Kate who then yelped, "Hey, watch it, four eyes! You'll ruin my hot dress. I plan on wearing it again for my date with Fred. The other Fred, not you."

"Obviously the children have had far too many sweets this evening," John said with a shake of his head. "It's a good thing Halloween only comes but once a year."

Just then, Ashley skipped into the room dressed in black leggings, a black shirt, pink tutu around her waist and wearing her red ruby slippers from last year's Dorothy costume. Wrapped around her shoulders was a large, red towel which the child flapped back and forth as if she had wings.

"What in the world?" her mother laughed as the child came to a stop before her parents.

John, balancing the baby in his arm as he feed her a bottle, immediately quipped, "I am not dressing up like that next year!"

"Seconded!" came the quick chorus from Kate, Will and Henry.

"What exactly are you supposed to be dressed as?" the Big Guy asked with creased, furry brow.

"I know, you're a punk ballerina," Kate guessed.

"Nope," Ashley grinned and swayed around the room flapping her towel around her shoulders.

"A punk bird?" Will guessed.

"Nope," Ashley giggled and did another twirl around the ottoman.

"A blind ballerina?" Henry guessed with a confused look.

"Nope. Want a clue?" the child teased as she smugly wiggled in front of the group.

"If we say yes will you stop squirming like that?" Nikola complained with a squint of his eye. "You're liable to cause a man to feel drunk moving back and forth like that."

"You can't get drunk," Will reminded him.

"No, but I think I know what it feels like now and I don't like it. Stop that," Nikola ordered crankily.

"I know!" Henry exclaimed as he sat up and leaned back against the legs of his chair. "You're a caterpillar about to turn into a butterfly."

"Nope!" she retorted with a happy wiggle. "Give up yet?"

"Yes!" Nikola sang out. "We give up!"

Turning, she came to stand in front of him. "Okay. I'm black, I can fly, I have fangs," she prompted as she barred her teeth at him, "and I go 'vlah, vlah, vlah, I vant to suck your blood!' Guess what I am?"

Agitated, Nikola slammed his glass down onto the end table and leapt to his feet. Waving his hands out, he bellowed, "It's not 'vlah, vlah, vlah, I vant to suck your blood!' It's 'blah, blah, blah, I vant to suck your blood!'" he roared in a bad Transylvanian accent. "If you're going to mock my people at least get the bogus saying right, people!"

A loud collective gasp was let out by the stunned onlookers.

Letting out a squeal, Ashley shrieked and pointed at him, "You said it! You said it! I win! I win!"

Crossing his arms, Nikola calmly peered down at her. "Said what?"

"I gotcha!" the little girl squealed and pulled an iPhone from her back pocket. She tapped on the screen and a moment later a recording of Tesla's rant replayed.

Kate, Will and Henry let out huge groans while John threw his head back and let out a bark of laughter.

"You have got to be kidding me," Kate grumbled with a huff.

"No way," Henry protested and pulled himself up into his chair. "We did not just get bested by a five year old."

"Apparently we did," an incredulous Will confirmed.

Giggling, Ashley wiggled her butt out in triumph and chanted, "I did it! I beat you all! I win!"

"Win what?" Helen asked in confusion as she lifted the baby up onto her shoulder and thumped her back to burp her. "What's going on?"

"What's going on is that I won the bet and now you all have to pay me!" the child gleefully declared and held out her hand.

"Bet?" her mother repeated and narrowed her eyes at her crew. "What bet?"

"The bet to get me to say that atrocious, supposedly vampire catch phrase in a bad Transylvanian accent," Nikola answered with a roll of his eyes. "They've been trying to get me to say it all day. As if I was going to fall for any of that." Indicating John, he added, "Those yahoos have been trying to trick me since our college days and they, one of them being Sherlock Holmes, never succeeded. Why you peasants thought you'd succeed where they failed is beyond me."

"But you just did," Henry pointed out, only to be interrupted by Will. "No, he didn't. You planned this with her, didn't you?" he accused of the smug vampire. "This whole thing was a production put together by you and Daphne the scammer here."

"If that's your way of saying I win I accept," Ashley smartly shot back. "Now pay up buddy!"

"Hold on," Kate countered and leaned forward. "You didn't put any money in the pool. Therefore, you can't win."

Throwing up her hands, an exasperated Ashley exclaimed, "I'm only a kid. I gots no money. That's why I have to get it from you!"

"Oh, dear Lord," Helen laughed and shook her head at her daughter's antics.

"Sneakiness," John chuckled. "She gets that from her mother," he said to Helen, who shot him a "whatever" look.

"Tonight, Ashley has displayed cleverness, a perfect sense of timing, and…," Nikola glanced at Helen, "_sneakiness_ worthy of a miniature version of any member of The Five. She makes her godfather proud," he proclaimed and gave the child a pat on the head. "Now pay her," he ordered as he sat down triumphantly.

"But she didn't put any money into the pool," Henry argued. "She can't win if she didn't put in."

"Especially since the bet was obviously rigged," Kate agreed.

"Show me the rules that where it says a participant can't work with the mark to win the bet," Nikola snarked back with a twinkle in his eye. "Can't, can you?"

"She still didn't put any money in," Will pointed out.

"No, but her father did," Nikola countered back. "As his dependent she is entitled to everything that's his. He put into the pool, therefore, so did she."

"I am?" Ashley said in surprise and looked at her parents who both shook their heads "no" back at her.

Chuckling, the Sasquatch pulled the bills out of his sweater pocket and handed them to the child. "Ashley got him to say the magic phrase. To the winner goes the reward." He gave out a snort of laughter watching the child happily do a dance holding up the fistful of bills and cut off the protests with, "You have been outsmarted by a child. Do you really want to keep harping on that fact?"

Seeing Henry's pout, Ashley said, "Aw, don't be sad, Henry. Here," and handed him the iPhone. Perking up, him played the recording again and smirked at his nemesis.

"You've got 24 hours, Heinrich, in which to enjoy your new toy," Nikola said with another roll of his eyes. "Afterwards, I'll fry any anything I hear playing that recording. Including you."

"48 hours," Henry negotiated.

"24."

"48… and I'll tell you which glass in your lab I licked the entire rim of this morning," Henry came back with a grin that looked frighteningly wolfish.

"What?" Nikola choked in horror, his mind racing to replay which of the four glasses in his office he had drunk out of today.

"Was it the one on the left of the decanter or the one on the right?" Henry mused loudly to himself and boldly continued to grin at the reddening scientist. As long as Helen was in the room Tesla wouldn't kill him. Possibly try to maim, but he'd have to catch him first. "Or maybe it was one of the two behind the decanter. So many glasses, who can remember. But hey, I've had all my shots. I'm sure you'll be fine," he drawled lazily.

"You're bluffing," Nikola said with narrowed eyes. "You're just saying that to freak me out."

"Is it working?" Henry asked slyly. The two stared at one another in challenge for a very long minute. Then another long minute. To drive his point home, Henry stuck his tongue out and wagged it back and forth teasingly.

The other occupants in the room shifted their eyes back and forth waiting to see which one would cave first. Shaking her head at their antics, Helen handed the baby back to her father and prepared herself mentally in case she would have to jump up and grab Nikola before he was able to throttle the taunting lad.

Groaning, Nikola caved. "Fine. 48 hours. But not a second longer."

Beaming, Henry victoriously tapped the phone to play the recording again. "I never licked your glass," he confessed and laughed as Tesla snarled, "I knew it."

Squeezing herself between her parents onto the couch, Ashley proudly showed her mother the bills. "Is this enough money to buy Sissy a toy?"

Touched, Helen looked down at her daughter and felt her throat tighten. "Is that why you wanted the money?"

"Uh huh," Ashley nodded. "I want to buy her a horse."

"Aw, that's so sweet," Kate sighed. "And so unfair. Who can be mad at the little rugrat after that?"

"I'm sure we can find her a lovely stuffed one at the toy store," her mother said and leaned down to kiss her on the head.

"But I wanted to buy a real one," the girl insisted. "A big white one with pink bows."

"A real horse is far too expensive," John explained, "and too dangerous for your sister. A little stuffed horse would be more suitable."

"This is enough money to buy the toy horse for your sister and a toy for yourself," Helen suggested and gave a soft laugh as Ashley's eyes lit up. "And I expect there will be enough left after that for a ride or two on the big carousel at the end of the food court. What do you say?"

"Oh, boy!" the girl squealed and threw her arms around her mother's waist. "Can we go now?"

"In a few days," Helen promised. "When I've gotten over this cold, okay?"

"Okay," the child agreed and then declared she was hungry. The next hour was spent partaking of the refreshments the Big Guy had made and lively recountings of the rest the night's adventures. Helen and John, especially, were grateful there was no more mention of the woman that had flirted with Druitt.

Eventually, the younger people drifted off to retire to their rooms. Kate escorted a drowsy Ashley upstairs to change into her pajamas and get ready for bed. A comfortable silence settled over the three remaining adults in Helen's study. The baby breathed softly and deeply in her slumber nearby in one of the portable cribs stored around the Sanctuary, and the crackling of the fire John had started created a warm and dreamy setting against the soft tapping of the gentle rainfall hitting the tall windows of the room.

"I can't believe you were able to get Ashley to participate in your scheme and fool everyone without revealing herself," Helen suddenly said with a soft laugh. "However did you do it?"

Giving a shrug, Nikola explained, "She's a miniature version of her mother. Playing the part of distraction and diversion shouldn't be that difficult for her. God knows you've done it enough in your younger days."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Helen frowned and turned to look at him.

"It means, my dear, that you had more than your fair share of practice being the bait while The Five were together and conducting our experiments," John interpreted and snorted a laugh when she rounded on him with an indignant glare.

"What do you mean, bait?" she growled. "And think very carefully which words you're about to utter, Montague John Druitt," she warned.

"You know very well we had to sneak supplies and other equipment from various locations for our needs. Depending on the situation and the persons involved, each of us took turns serving as distractions and look outs. You, as the lone female, were particularly adept at being a distraction," John answered smoothly.

"Which is precisely why you were the one chosen to distract Headmaster Lewis the afternoon we took samples from the chemistry lab's locked cupboard," Nikola reminded her.

Helen shook her head. "You're remembering it wrong. You and James were nicking the powders and I was the lookout."

Giving her a boyish grin, Nikola also shook his head. "Nope. You were the distraction. A lovely one at that, all dressed up in blue with satin trimmings and rosy cheeked."

"No," she corrected, "Nigel was supposed to be the distraction but somehow Lewis got past him and entered the third floor. I intercepted him before he got to the chemistry wing and came up with some cockamamie story about how fascinating I thought his last lecture was. Not that he cared a whit about my opinions of course. He was far too busy coldly staring down his nose at me and sniffing importantly about how women should be in the home, away from the taxing environment of academia. It took all my will power not to smack him with my fan every time he bent his head down and said my name in a tight, condescending manner as if it hurt him to acknowledge my existence."

"It probably did," John said. "Lewis wore extra tight pants thinking he would better hide his fat that way and the sight of you in your finery would have only made them feel even more constricted." He and Tesla chuckled, then laughed hard at the wide eyed look she gave them.

"What?" she exclaimed. "No way. The man was as cold and unbending as an iceberg."

"In his official occupation as head of the science college he was all business. Off campus he was a hound," John shared. "Everyone knew about it."

"I didn't know about it!" she protested. "No one told me."

"Which is why we made you the distraction," Nikola confessed unapologetically. "He'd been getting suspicious of James and myself hanging around certain areas which later had things turn up missing so we figured we'd have you intercept him should he stumble upon us in the cupboard. The sight of your glorious, heaving bosom peeking out slightly above your neckline and he'd stop dead in his tracks in the hopes of a good gander."

"What!" Helen exclaimed and sat upright.

At the dark frown John aimed his way, Tesla rolled his eyes. "You're the one who described them as glorious and heaving. I was merely repeating your words. Me, I would have described them more eloquently, such as porcelain orbs of beauty envious even by the likes of Venus…"

"Tesla," John growled in warning.

"What? What!" Helen repeated as she stood up and turned to stare down at the two men seated on the couch. "Come again?"

"Which part?" Nikola asked innocently with a batting of his eyes. "The glorious, heaving bosom part or the porcelain orbs of…" He dodged Druitt's hand as it shot out to grab him by the collar only to get smacked in the head with a pillow by Helen. "Ow!" he complained. "I've had several glasses of red wine tonight. You're going to give me a headache. Or, at the very least, muss up my hair. Act civil, woman. Hitting is not the answer. And you wonder where your offspring get their violent streak."

"I'll do more than hit if you don't explain yourself," she snarled with hands on hips and flashing blue eyes. "Are you saying that Nigel wasn't downstairs waiting to distract Lewis? And that you lied to me about my role in that heist?"

"Nigel was passed out in his dorm room from an all nighter writing his English composition," John shared. "He could barely see two fingers in front of him."

Flabbergast, she stared at him. "You knew this and you didn't tell me?"

Recognizing the dangerous line he was about to cross, John backtracked. He had no intention of sleeping on the couch in their bedroom, which was too short and uncomfortable for his large frame, something he suspected she had purposely intended. "I was away teaching while all of this was going on, if you can recall." He shook a finger between her and Tesla. "I had no part in this particular escapade. Take it up with your partner in crime here."

At her glare, Nikola pointed to her forehead. "You're going to give yourself wrinkles frowning like that. And don't your bloomers in a twist. As John pointed out, each of us took turns serving as distractions and look outs. In this particular adventure it was your turn. No big deal."

"First of all, I don't wear bloomers. That's for children," she huffed, and then narrowed her eyes at the smile that tugged at one corner of his mouth.

"One word about her glorious undergarments and I'll drop you down the nearest volcano," John promised, also recognizing the mischievous look on the vampire's countenance.

The smile started tugging up at the other side of the offender's mouth. "Fine. Knickers. Better?"

"And second of all, are you admitting that you lied to me and deliberately situated me to be bait for that old, pompous windbag? That you knew he'd try to peak down my gown?"

Nikola sighed. "Now, Helen. Would I do something like that to you?"

"Yes!" she and John both cried in unison. The loud noise disturbed the nearby sleeping babe, who gave out a whine in her sleep and shifted slightly. The three adults froze and waited silently until they were sure the baby continued to slumber.

When Helen turned her stern face towards him again, Nikola smiled and said, "It was James' idea. I merely went along with it."

"Oh, really," she hissed and stomped away to her desk.

"Now you've done it," John drawled and leveled a reproachful look at the vampire.

"You love riling her up just as much as I do," Nikola noted and wasn't surprised at the little smile that showed up on Druitt's broad face.

The two men turned in their seats to look over their shoulders as they heard the phone ringing. Helen, standing next to her phone, had dialed a number and hit the speaker button. Her arms were crossed and she was tapping her foot impatiently. The two men glanced at one another and snickered, knowing exactly who she was calling to ream out over the phone.

Finally, after numerous rings a gruff, sleepy voice came over the intercom. "Hello?"

"Headmaster Lewis, the chemistry lab… start talking," Helen coolly instructed without so much as a greeting back.

"Helen?" the confused voice asked. "What in the world are you prating on about? Do you know what time it is?"

"Let me refresh your memory," she continued. "You and Nikola were liberating some powders from the locked cupboard. I was serving as the lookout on the landing of the third floor staircase. And Nigel was… where?"

John and Nikola looked at one another and laughed again. Better that James was on the end of her ire than either of them. Holding up his glass, Nikola tilted it up in a salute before taking a sip. Mission accomplished.

"It is 5:30 in the morning," came the grumbled reply on the other end.

"James," a groggy woman's voice was heard muffled in the background. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Go back to sleep," he softly instructed and the rustling noises that followed signaled that he had left the bed. A moment later, he spoke in a louder tone. "You called me at 5:30 in the morning to reminisce over some escapade from our youth? Something that happened over a century ago?"

"Yes," Helen sweetly answered. "Now where was Nigel during all of that?"

"If I am to be interrogated at such an ungodly hour for such a ridiculous reason at least allow me the decency of a hot kettle. I'll call you back in ten minutes."

"I'll be waiting in my office with baited breath," she said. "Hurry."

"There she goes being bait again," Nikola quipped, causing John to laugh aloud.

"I'm guess the other two miscreants are there with you?" James keenly guessed.

"We are," John and Nikola sang out cheerfully.

"You all are a royal pain in my backside," he complained and hung up the phone with a loud click.

"A hot kettle sounds good," Helen announced and walked casually to the sideboard near her desk. She'd been ticked off when she'd called Watson but now, having gotten even by awakening him from his slumber, she was feeling more playful than vengeful.

"As does a change of clothing," John stated and stood up to stretch. "Be right back. Don't start the show without me."

"You just don't want him to see you in that getup," Nikola remarked. "He might confuse you for stupid instead of Scooby like I did."

"Don't worry. I took pictures earlier," Helen said and winked at him.

"James was right. You both are pains in the backside," John muttered and disappeared in a flash of red.

Minutes later, James's face appeared on the large, flat screen monitor hung above the fireplace. He was resting in a wingchair, feet propped up on an ottoman, in his night clothes and robe, and sipping from a tea cup. His hair, roughly combed with his fingers, stood up in a few sections messily. "So, before we begin this enchanting walk down memory lane I have only one question."

"Yes?" Helen asked. She was back in her spot in the center of the couch, with Nikola on her right side and John on her left. All three had their feet resting on the oversized ottoman and it would appear they were having a slumber party because each was in their night clothes and robes had one not known otherwise.

"Which one of those lummoxes riled you up and started all of this?" James inquired as he stared at the trio on his monitor. "I would like to know to whom I owe the honor of this rude awakening."

"Uh, that would be me," Nikola confessed happily with a raised hand and a wide, toothy grin.

"Of course," James said with a sigh.

"You really had to ask?" John snorted with a tilt of his head.

Shrugging, Watson prompted Helen to give him a recap of the situation. "I'm an old man. Remind me again what crime I'm on the hot seat for?"

Outside the Old City Sanctuary, the rain continued to tap and skim down the tall windows as the four old classmates took their journey down memory lane back to the adventures of their youth. The rest of the household slept in peace, unaware of what new adventures the new day would have in store for them. In a large, warm bed on the third floor, a little five year old snuggled under covers in the center of the mattress with her arms wrapped securely around her favorite stuffed dog. She had had the best Halloween yet and ended it by falling asleep in her parent's bed rather than her own. The day couldn't have been any better.


End file.
